Yes I have and have never looked back, Lollar Blondes. Smooth, slightly scooped mids that blow the Fenders away IMHO. The 69's are nice as well. I have a set of the handsigned Abby's that are very nice.

Yes I have and have never looked back, Lollar Blondes. Smooth, slightly scooped mids that blow the Fenders away IMHO. The 69's are nice as well. I have a set of the handsigned Abby's that are very nice.

If you like the sweetness of the Alnico II Lollars, Duncan's APS pups (1's are staggered, 2's are flat) are a really nice sweet singing, quacky Alnico II pup for a reasonable price. ( no dis to Lollar intended).

For me the 57/62 is the Fender pickup by which all others must be judged. Pure nickel strings and precise pup adjustments will get you there. The other pups mentioned are very good indeed but they are not the classic Fender sound.

I have a set of the 57/62 pickups as replacements in a MIM 50s Classic with a .1 uf tone cap (rather than stock .022), and they sound great -- better than the stock Alnico 5 (of course) and at least as good as the Duncan SSL-1. But are we talking about the same pickups? There are two versions -- the non-bevelled magnet pre-1998 version that can sound less than inspiring, and the bevelled magnet version from 1998 on that was reverse engineered from a 1963 Strat pickup, which is the version I have been using and recommend.

Lately, I kinda like the Duncan Surfers (their take on aged original '64 Fender's)...and they are one of the few non-Fender pickups I've tried that, to my ears, actually have that old Fender vibe to them.

I used to really like the Van Zandt Vintage+ set...but, for some reason, the last few sets I tried didn't sound as good as the one's I tried about 5 years ago.

However, in my experience, pickups have to be installed in wood that compliments their tone to sound their best. A few years ago I did an experiment with 6 similar Strats, with the exact same set of pickups, and it was amazing how different they sounded in each guitar. So, I've come to the conclusion that pickup swaps are a hit/miss scenario.

For me the 57/62 is the Fender pickup by which all others must be judged. Pure nickel strings and precise pup adjustments will get you there. The other pups mentioned are very good indeed but they are not the classic Fender sound.

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What height are you setting the pick ups? I have gathered from many posts here that Strat pickups work best when set almost level with the pickguard.

Also, what are some pure nickel strings? I am finding mostly nickel wrapped strings when I search on line.

What height are you setting the pick ups? I have gathered from many posts here that Strat pickups work best when set almost level with the pickguard.

Also, what are some pure nickel strings? I am finding mostly nickel wrapped strings when I search on line.

Thanks

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Yeah... Set the pickups pretty low to avoid harshness... I get much better control over the sound with the pickups set low. The bass side is always just peeking over the top of the pickguard with about twice that rise on the high strings. That's for the Neck and Middle, the Bridge is set a touch higher than that.

Here's a pic so you can get an idea:

As for pure nickel strings... I use DR Pure Blues. The last a long time, feel super smooth, and have great tone.

^What he said. Pup adjustment is crucial on the Stratocaster. Different gauges and types of strings come in second place. I like the Everly B52 sets. I agree the newer beveled magnet 57/62 pups are the better ones.